It is just the tonic for Kambalda — a tight-knit community built on the discovery of Australia's first nickel mine in 1966 — which has been hit by hundreds of job losses with the closure of four major mines in three years.

Dr Fagan said the region was already on the map as a world-renowned gold province and discoveries of this nature only reinforced that there was more gold waiting to be found.

"It's very encouraging because it says there's a lot of gold in the system, although this was coming from 500-metres depth," he said.

"This confirms what we already knew — that this is a very gold-rich area.

"It probably will attract more prospectors because we've got a situation where they've dragged out about $3 million worth of gold in half a day.

"The challenge is to find that on the surface [and] it's possible, although that's not very common ... you need to be very lucky."

Fresh optimism puts town in spotlight

Kalgoorlie-based gold buyer Angus Line said the global publicity generated by the Beta Hunt discovery would benefit the region and could spark a "mini gold rush".

"It creates a lot of excitement for the new-age prospector," he said.

"There's going to be a lot more exploration, and small prospectors and leaseholders in the area will be excited because something of this size has only been found a handful of times in the history of gold mining throughout the world.

"Finding something like this does create a lot of optimism; people have the belief they can go out and make a small fortune."

Specimens likely to fetch handsome price

Mr Line said there had been a massive spike in the number of prospectors in recent years because of strong gold prices and the popularity of TV shows like Aussie Gold Hunters.

The Discovery Channel television production follows crews of gold-hungry prospectors as they set out to uncover a fortune on the WA Goldfields, with more than $1.3 million worth of gold unearthed in season three.

Mr Line anticipated the rare specimens from Beta Hunt would fetch a handsome price at auction.

"With these pieces, the actual gold content becomes a bit of an afterthought with the size of them," he said.

"The rarity of finding something this big, you can sort of bargain what you want for them.

"People will pay whatever they are willing to pay for them [and] it can often fetch much more than the gold price.

"They've been broadcasted so far, so there would be a lot of eyes watching them."

Excitement in area mounts

ASX-listed company Lefroy Exploration has found hundreds of gold nuggets over the past five years on its 600-square-kilometre land package, just 10km east of Beta Hunt.

Managing director and veteran geologist Wade Johnson said the Beta Hunt discovery had re-energised explorers in the area and excited potential investors.

Mining giant key to Kambalda's fortunes

The biggest player in the Kambalda gold scene also happens to be Lefroy Exploration's major shareholder, South African mining giant Gold Fields, which holds an 18 per cent stake in the Perth-based explorer.

Gold Fields owns the Beta Hunt mining lease and has produced more than 10 million ounces of gold at its St Ives operations at Kambalda, mining deposits around the Lake Lefroy salt lake for decades.